technobiopunk

Technobiopunk is a speculative genre and aesthetic that blends cyberpunk's techno-noir futurism with biopunk's focus on biology, genetics, and living systems. In technobiopunk, biotechnology and computational networks are integral to social power structures, everyday life, and urban environments. The term has appeared in academic discussions, critics' essays, and fan discourse since the 2010s to describe works that foreground gene editing, synthetic biology, biohacking, and biotechnological infrastructure alongside cyberspace and AI.

Origins and scope: The emergence of technobiopunk reflects the maturation of biotech capabilities and the convergence of biotech startups, data networks, and surveillance capitalism. Works associated with the label typically explore how biological manipulation intersects with corporate control, state power, and personal identity, often with a noir or dystopian mood.

Aesthetics and motifs: Settings include neon-lit megacities, high-tech labs, and ubiquitous biosensors where genomes, code, and machines interact. Common motifs include CRISPR and gene circuits, programmable microbes, cyborg augmentation, and biosecurity narratives that question ownership and access to life.

Narrative and thematic concerns: Stories frequently feature rogue scientists, activist biohackers, or corporate agents, and they probe ethical issues such as consent, ecological impact, and the commodification of biology, while portraying networks that blur the line between organic and digital life.

Relation to other genres: technobiopunk sits at the intersection of cyberpunk and biopunk, with some overlap into technopunk. While cyberpunk emphasizes information tech and AI, and biopunk foregrounds biology and hacking, technobiopunk centers both biology and computation as co-constitutive forces in society.

Reception: Critics view it as a useful lens for contemporary techno-science anxieties, though some argue the label is elastic. It remains a developing category with varying definitions across media and scholarship.